OSHA issues fines for Butte des Morts bridge fatality

Jan. 3, 2013

Federal investigators say a construction company willfully violated safety standards leading up to a fatal crane collapse in July on the Butte des Morts bridge. / Photo courtesy of the Winnebago County Sheriff's D

About Lunda Construction

Founded: 1938 in Black River Falls Employees: More than 600 Estimated revenue: $400 million Offices: Six. The company does work in 30 states. More details: The company saw its largest growth in 1956 with the interstate highway program. In 1982, it established its industrial division, operated out of Little Chute, to augment heavy highway bridge division. Lunda was acquired in July 2011 by Tutor Perini, a publicly traded California-based construction company. Source: Lunda, Tutor Perini

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OSHKOSH — Federal investigators say a construction company willfully violated safety standards leading up to a fatal crane collapse in July on the Butte des Morts bridge.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued fines Thursday to Lunda Construction and Choice Construction for the incident that killed Joseph Bidler, 35, of Green Bay, and seriously injured another.

Lunda was fined $105,000 for one willful and five serious violations including allowing a crane to travel with a suspended load, failing to train competent and qualified persons on their roles, not adequately attaching the crane to the barge, failing to use appropriate signaling methods and failing to meet the requirements of a critical lift plan.

Perhaps more serious than the fine, OSHA placed Black River Falls-based Lunda in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program.

That program started in 2011 to focus on “recalcitrant employers who endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations.” Companies on the list face stiffer fines and more frequent unannounced inspections.

“Employers have a responsibility to take all necessary steps to eliminate hazards from the workplace and to ensure that workers are given the proper training to conduct required tasks, such as operating cranes and performing multiple crane lifts,” Nick Walters, OSHA’s regional administrator in Chicago, said in a prepared statement. “It is tragic that one employee lost his life and another was seriously injured during this construction project.”

In October, OSHA fined Lunda $21,000 for another crane collapse in April that killed Ray Aschenbrenner, 59, of Black River Falls. That incident occurred on U.S. 41 just south of Schuering Road near De Pere.

Lunda contested that fine, and it is being reviewed by an independent commission, said OSHA spokesman Scott Allen.

Before the two fatal incidents this year, records show OSHA inspected Lunda sites 14 times since 2007, resulting in citations for seven violations.

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Josh Swanson, Lunda’s corporate counsel in Black River Falls, said Thursday, “we have no comment at this time,” regarding the penalties.

Choice Construction, based in Menomonee Falls, was fined $13,220.

Bidler was a truck driver for Spancrete, which was not fined. He died when he was struck by the boom of a crane that overturned while 52-ton bridge girders were lifted into place.

A second man, Martin DeRidder of Plymouth, was ejected from the cab of the crane and onto the barge as it fell. He was seriously injured.

Lunda and Choice Construction have 15 business days to request an informal conference with OSHA’s local director to contest the findings.

The $105,000 penalty is the largest fine levied by OSHA in Wisconsin since 2006, when it fined Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp. in Oshkosh $117,000 after a bundle of steel tubing crushed a man to death.

After negotiating penalties, OSHA fines companies less than $5,000 when workers die on jobsites, according to a recent report by the Gannett Wisconsin Media Investigative Team.